Tuesday, March 26, 2013

I've eaten my lunch and although it was quite good I did not pay it much attention because I was perched on the edge of my bed pruning my reading list (it now holds 117 books) while eating. A terrible idea.

Tomorrow I will enjoy my lunch as Charles Arrowby does in The Sea, The Sea, seated in a proper chair, a cloth napkin draped across my lap.

But for now I must get back to work. I'd rather rent Oma & Bella, or return to The Sea, The Sea, or sleep for a bit. No, work first. Hmph. I know in the end it is what will most please me. Right after reading this excerpt one more time...

“It is after lunch and I shall now describe the
house. For lunch, I may say, I ate and greatly enjoyed the following:
anchovy paste on hot buttered toast, then baked beans and kidney beans
with chopped celery, tomatoes, lemon juice and olive oil. (Really good
olive oil is essential, the kind with a taste, I have brought a supply
from London.) Green peppers would have been a happy addition only the
village shop (about two miles pleasant walk) could not provide them. (No
one delivers to far-off Shruff End, so I fetch everything, including
milk, from the village.) Then bananas and cream with white sugar.
(Bananas should be cut, never mashed, and the cream should be thin.) The
hard water-biscuits with New Zealand butter and Wensleydale cheese. Of
course I never touch foreign cheeses. Our cheeses are the best in the
world. With this feast I drank most of a bottle of Muscadet out of my
modest “cellar.” I ate and drank slowly as one should (cook fast, eat
slowly) and without distractions such as (thank heavens) conversation or
reading. Indeed eating is so pleasant one should even try to suppress
thought. Of course reading and thinking are important but, my God, food
is important too. How fortunate we are to be food consuming animals.
Every meal should be a treat and one ought to bless every day which
brings with it a good digestion and the precious gift of hunger.”

What a beautiful description! Oh me too I have a too big book list (ordered yesterday 4 books from my list of 447) that really gets me a little bit nostalgic when I look at it...time....there's never enough time!

It would be lovely if we all could be present in the moment, giving our lunch our undivided attention.But life does happen more often than not. Thanks for suggesting Oma & Bella--a documentary I will be sure to put on my list of must-sees.Hope you are enjoying Spring.We are still awaiting its appearance in the North East.

Yesterday I had the most fantastical lunch to make up for a woeful one the previous day. Lunch, quite my favourite meal of the day, should always be enjoyed and given proper focus lest it leaves a bad aftertaste. Dissatisfaction is hard to shake off.

How delightful! I must run to the library and get that book. I did read it once,ages ago, but it seems that it would be just perfect the second time around.(I think I eat too fast. I love food ,I should eat with more joy, thank you for reminding me)Have a lovely Holiday Denisse.

The Sea, The Sea takes me straight to a holiday in Malta, years ago, during a patch when I read all of her books one after the other. I'm terrible at appreciating lunch: I may use a napkin and sit at a table, but always read during it and eat far too fast...Must try harder.

Isn't there a scene with almonds and apricots in the The sea, The sea? I need to rescue my copy from the box in my parents garage! I know, I know, they are all curling at the corners. Anchovy on toast is one of my favorite things

Crikey 117 makes my bedside pile look positively microscopic! Thank you for the excerpt - there is something so very satisfying to sit and really notice (and enjoy) what one eats. It's as if allowing yourself to experience it fully, with all your senses, makes the whole thing feel so much more fulfilling, and memorable.